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Review
. 2022 Jan 5:8:791927.
doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.791927. eCollection 2021.

Metabolic Reprogramming Underlying Brain Metastasis of Breast Cancer

Baoyi Liu  1 , Xin Zhang  1   2   3
Affiliations
Review

Metabolic Reprogramming Underlying Brain Metastasis of Breast Cancer

Baoyi Liu et al. Front Mol Biosci. .

Abstract

The development of brain metastasis is a major cause of death in patients with breast cancer, characterized by rapid progression of the disease and poor prognosis, and lack of effective treatment has existed as an unresolved issue clinically. Extensive research has shown that a variety of metabolic changes associated with cellular metastasis exist in primary breast cancer or brain metastases, therefore to elucidate metabolic characteristics at each step of the metastasis cascade will provide important clues to the efficient treatment. In this review, we discuss the changes in metabolic patterns of breast cancer cells at every step of metastasis for exploring the potential therapeutic target based on metabolic reprogramming, and provide new insights on the design and development of drugs for breast cancer brain metastasis.

Keywords: brain metastasis; breast cancer; drug targets; metabolic reprogramming; metastatic cascade.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The metabolism adjustment of breast cancer cells migrating to brain. Diagram depicting potential mechanism of cellular metabolic reprogramming during different step of metastatic cascade. The metastatic route is simplified to be in the primary lesion, in circulation, and in the brain metastatic lesion. The possible metabolic reprogramming of breast cancer cells at various stages is outlined in the pink boxes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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